Literary critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr., writing on the lyrics of the rap group 2 Live Crew in the New York Times, said "Their sexism is so flagrant... that it almost cancels itself out. In this, it recalls the inter-sexual jousting in Zola Neale Hurston's novels."

When testifying as an expert witness on behalf of the rappers at their obscenity trial, Gates delicately explained to the court the difference between mere vulgarity and a double entendre. Gates, a professor with a doctorate in English literature, offered as an example "Shakespeare's 'My love is like a red, red rose.' " The line he quoted actually came from the Scottish poet Robert Burns.

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